China's Property Market Continues to Slump, Property Management Companies Retreat En Masse

TAIPEI (CNA) – China's real estate market continues to slump, impacting related industries. Many cities are seeing a phenomenon of property management companies withdrawing en masse, with some communities suffering from foul odors due to accumulated garbage.

Economic Daily News, a mainland media outlet, recently disclosed that in March this year, Vanke Property, a benchmark enterprise in China's property management industry, made a strategic withdrawal from the Xuzhou market, where it had been deeply rooted for many years. It announced that it would officially terminate property services for six residential projects in Xuzhou City starting from June 30.

The report mentioned that since the second half of last year, many places in China have successively reported cases of property companies voluntarily withdrawing from communities, and such reports have become more frequent this year. This wave of property withdrawals has rapidly spread from third and fourth-tier cities to first and second-tier core urban areas, with Zhejiang and Chongqing being the hardest-hit areas, and first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai have not been spared.

The report cited data stating that last year, revenue from property management services decreased by 3.1% year-on-year, and urban service revenue declined by 15.1%. The main reasons are the overall downturn in the real estate industry and increased costs due to improved service quality.

Under the withdrawal of property management, people's lives have been significantly affected. In some communities, not only are elevators broken and no one repairs them, but there are also cases of water leaks in garages and accumulated garbage emitting foul odors. In some communities, security rooms are empty, and main gates are wide open, allowing anyone to enter freely, posing safety hazards.

How large is this wave of withdrawals? Zhejiang Daily recently cited data from the China Index Academy, a Chinese real estate research institution, stating that from 2024 to 2025, the proactive withdrawal rate of the top 50 brand property management companies in China will increase by 37% year-on-year, with residential projects accounting for over 80%. From January to September last year, there were 120 publicly reported withdrawal cases nationwide, a doubling year-on-year. (Editors: Chou Hui-ying/Chen Kai-yu) 1150413